The Black Sheep
by teddylupins-sister
Summary: Tracks important moments in Andromeda & Sirius' relationship. Possibly some wolfstar for good measure in the future.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Sorry just a short prologue, I'll post chapter 1 pronto. Not really sure how many chapters this will go for. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review and tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I'm sure you can tell that I'm not JK Rowling.**

Sirius was fifteen years old when he ran away from home. He had arrived at the Potters' house at 1 am, looking disheveled and weary, but not all that upset. He had explained calmly to James and his parents what had happened– the dinner party, Bellatrix and Lucius taking him aside to tell him that it was time to choose, just like Regulus, and the fight that had followed– before sinking into bed. It was only then that James heard his tears.

The next morning he had woken up late, and found all three Potters downstairs waiting for him at the breakfast table. They had spent the morning talking about whether or not Sirius would like to be adopted.

_"We already consider you a part of our family Sirius, but we wanted you to know that we'd be happy for you to be a Potter, and it may be better for legal reasons as well, just in case anything were to happen. You can't go back there."_

Sirius had been touched, truly, but he couldn't be a Potter. He was a Black, even if they didn't want him. In fact, maybe it was because they didn't want him that he was so determined to remain one. There was nothing he liked better than annoying his parents.

He wasn't ashamed of being a Black, even though he was ashamed of his parents and his brother. He wasn't ashamed because he knew that even though his immediate family might not have been a real family to him, there were still Blacks that were his family. He wasn't going to change his name because he was proud to have Alphard Black as his uncle.

And most of all he was proud that Andromeda Black was his cousin, because he'd never met anyone as brave as her.

**A/N: Please review!****  
><strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's chapter one, hope it's ok. Please review.  
>Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.<strong>

August 1964

Sirius Black was the cheekiest four year old the Black family had ever seen. His mother only dealt with him when she really had to so she could maintain her sanity, his father didn't have time and the house elves were mostly afraid of him now that he was as big as them.

"SIRIUS! Stop that right now!" cried Walburga Black. She was a fairly young mother, and was at her wits end when it came to her oldest son. She could feel both Druella and her mother-in-law's disapproving looks whenever they were at family events. But they didn't understand how hard it was to raise Sirius. Regulus was so much easier. "Now, your cousins are coming over today, and you _will_ behave! Don't pull their hair, don't hit them, don't throw things at them, just play nicely like the nice young boy you are!"

"But Bella has too much hair! Why can't I pull it? It wouldn't hurt for her to lose some," Sirius reasoned.

"Sirius! Do not pull Narcissa's hair, do not pull Andromeda's hair and do _not_ pull Bellatrix's hair. She has a wand, and she'll use it on you without hesitation. Do not tempt her, because I won't stop her if you deserve it. I've warned you."

Sirius went back to throwing blocks softly at his younger brother, who gurgled happily to have his brother's attention. He tried to think of something his mother hadn't thought to forbid him to do. He wasn't scared of Bella and her wand, Bella liked him. He did know better than to pull her hair, he had only said that to annoy his mother.

Soon enough Regulus and Sirius heard footsteps outside the door of the nursery, before the door opened and three girls were pushed inside by their mother.

"Oh, Reggie you've grown!" cried Andromeda as she bent to pick the two year old up, cooing at him.

"Dromda!" Regulus said throwing his arms around her neck and slobbering all over her in his enthusiasm.

Regulus liked Andromeda best, because she always paid him attention. Sirius found her boring and too sweet, and Narcissa was too much of a princess. He preferred Bella, who was leaning against the wall peering out the window, because she had an eye for trouble just like him.

"Dromeda put the baby down, Mother will scold you for getting that new dress ruined," said Narcissa, sitting down on a chair near the wall and picking at her fingernails.

"Bella will clean it up for me, won't you? She'll never know," Andromeda smiled at her best friend and big sister.

"Nope," said Bella, shocking everyone. Normally she would do anything for Andromeda. "You have your own wand now, you can do it yourself."

"But Bella," Andromeda laughed, incredulous, "I haven't started Hogwarts yet. I only got the wand two days ago, I don't know how to do any spells yet."

"Well you should, you've seen me do it hundreds of times. You should pay more attention from now on, otherwise when you get to school you'll be as hopeless as all the Mudbloods. So you learn your lesson, you'll just have to deal with Mother by yourself. We don't want you getting to Hogwarts and putting us to shame because you're not top of the class. Or worse, a Hufflepuff." Bella's face twisted in disgust at the very thought.

"Of course not Bella, I'll be in Slytherin just like you! And I do remember the spell, it's _Scourgify_. See, I'll show you," she said, dumping Regulus rather unceremoniously on the floor in her eagerness to prove herself to Bellatrix. She got her wand out of her pocket and pointed it at her shoulder. She took a deep breath, her hand shaking, before saying, "_Scoorgify_!"

Immediately a long stream of purple bubbles erupted from the wand, staining the white dress rather than removing the wet patch of dribble. Narcissa and Andromeda both screamed, while Bellatrix laughed maniacally.

Someone was hurrying up the stairs; the adults had clearly been alerted by the girls screams. The door flung open, and there stood Druella and Walburga.

"Andromeda Black! What on earth do you think you are doing? Your new dress, and you've ruined it messing around with your wand! I told you to put your wand in your trunk until you got to Hogwarts! What could possibly have possessed you to try and do spells when you haven't been taught how? I expect better from you Andromeda, you're supposed to be Narcissa's role model!"

Narcissa sniffed at this, while Andromeda kept a straight face, showing no outward reaction to her mother's harsh words. She did not betray Bellatrix by even so much as looking at her. She remained stoic as her mother ranted and raved about the disgrace and what her punishment would be.

"Yes, mother. I'm sorry."

oooooooooo

Looking back, Sirius knew that this was the moment his feelings about the three cousins had changed.

In his mind Narcissa had gone from being a spoilt princess to being cold.

Bellatrix had gone from being everything he admired– brave and daring – to disloyal and cruel. To Sirius, sticking with your own was important, unless they had ceased to view you yourself as one of their own. To stand by and watch her sister getting punished when it was Bellatrix's own fault was one of the reasons Sirius didn't want to be a Slytherin anymore. He didn't possess, nor did he want, that trait of ruthless self-preservation.

And Andromeda had gone from being dull and sweet to being strong and brave and loyal. In such a short period of time, she had become the Black sister he most wanted to be like, and he was unable to hide his childish disbelief when he was told that she had been sorted into Slytherin.

Andromeda Black may have been just as brave as her cousin Sirius, but she also had a bit more common sense.

**A/N: Please leave a review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Enjoy :) and then please review!  
>Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter<strong>

August 1970

It was a warm summers day in London, and two of the Black sisters were making their traditional visit to Number 12 Grimmauld Place with their mother before returning to Hogwarts for the year. Bellatrix was off in France with her fiancé meeting his family.

Next year Sirius would be joining them at Hogwarts, and Andromeda would have said that it would be good to have another family member in their House, particularly her favourite cousin, but when it came to Sirius Black all bets were off. A Black who wasn't a Slytherin? Impossible. Even Andromeda, different as she had always felt to her two sisters and parents, was still a Slytherin. But Andromeda had never met a ten year old who showed quite as much careless abandon for himself as Sirius, his constant pranks on his mother showed that, so she was fairly sure that he wouldn't even need to ask the Sorting Hat to place him elsewhere, it just would.

Even Regulus had outgrown the old nursery by now, so after greeting their aunt the two girls went to find their cousins in the garden behind the old townhouse. Regulus and Sirius were busy climbing a tree, and Narcissa took out the novel she was reading and flopped down onto the grass to read. Sirius spotted Andromeda and dropped out of the tree, while Regulus continued higher.

"Dromeda!" he yelped, almost barreling her over in his enthusiasm.

"Hi Siri!" Andromeda was the only person _ever_ permitted to call him Siri. _Ever_. He hated it, but knew that there were very few other nickname options with a name like 'Sirius', so he let her get away with it. "Good summer?" she asked, pulling him down onto the grass with her.

"Alright, I guess. Wish I was eleven," he mumbled, his mood turning downcast very quickly. Andromeda knew that Sirius wanted to get to Hogwarts as quickly as possible, mainly to escape from his parents. She also knew that he would miss Regulus a lot more than Sirius would let on.

"Only one year to go. It'll go in a flash, promise."

"How was your summer?" he asked. She had gone to France with her parents and sisters to visit the Lestranges for most of July, so Sirius had not seen her since just after she had returned from Hogwarts.

"Lonely. Bella was so caught up with her fiancé in France, and Cissy was being Cissy, so I just spent most of it reading, wishing I was back at school."

"Oh yeah, the fiancé. What's he like?" Sirius asked with genuine interest. His opinion of Bella had deteriorated more and more rapidly as they had both aged, and he was eager to know what kind of man would want to marry her. Even a complete berk like Lucius Malfoy wasn't interested. Maybe the language barrier had meant that Bella and the Lestrange man hadn't actually had any conversations so he didn't really know how twisted she was.

"Like Bella," Andromeda answered. Sirius shuddered slightly.

"Oh, how wonderful."

"Oi! She's still my sister, even if she can be a bit cruel sometimes."

"You'd say she means well, except it's pretty clear she doesn't."

"Well, true. Anyway so he's a bit of a git and so is his slimy younger brother, and then for all of August we were back here and I kept getting forced to go to all these pureblood balls. They're pushing the 'marriage as soon as you're out of Hogwarts' thing pretty hard at the moment. I hardly had a moment to myself once we got back from France."

"I guess," said Sirius, with much of his childish naivety still shining through, "if you're in love, it wouldn't really matter if you got married straight out of school would it?"

"Sirius Black, you old romantic. Who knew?" she laughed. "No, even if you're in love, seventeen is too young to get married. And I don't think I could ever love any of the boys my parents keep suggesting. I'm not sure if I'll get that much of a choice though..." she trailed off, before sighing deeply.

"Of course you have a choice! Are you in love with someone else?"

Andromeda laughed again. "No, I'm not in love. I'm only sixteen."

Silence fell upon the two of them for a long time, before Andromeda took a shaky breath.

"Maybe, maybe one day I could love him. But I don't love him yet. And I can't let myself, because I can't marry him."

"Dromeda, you can marry anyone if you love them enough."

Andromeda smiled indulgently at her cousin. He was completely insane, but he still had more of a heart, and more common sense than all the other members of their family combined. Sometimes it meant that she would forget that he was only ten years old. He had naive and childish ideas about love, yes, but he _was_ a child and at least his heart was in the right place. Maybe she could trust him.

"Siri," she began, "you can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. Not anyone. Not even Reg, ok? He's too young, he might let something slip." This wasn't the real reason she didn't want Regulus to know. In truth, she didn't trust him because he seemed a bit too much like Narcissa. But she knew that Sirius still adored his brother, and she didn't want to upset him. "The boy, the one that I like, he... well, he's a..." she paused, not really sure how to tell Sirius. She knew that he had a far more tolerant and easy going temperament than their family, but he would still have these prejudices ingrained into him, he simply didn't know any better. Yet.

"God, Dromeda, he's not a Muggle is he?" Sirius asked, completely incredulous.

"No, Sirius," she laughed, "how would I have even met a Muggle? But, well," she took a deep breath. She just needed to do it. To admit this secret to someone. Anyone. Even if it was her ten year old cousin. "His parents are Muggles. I mean he's a Muggleborn. But he's a really good wizard, he's incredible. And funny and so lovely."

"He's a mudblood?" Sirius hissed. He would have cried out, but he was conscious of Narcissa being such a short distance away.

"Don't say that Sirius. All those things they tell you, about Purebloods being better than everyone else. It's not true, ok? It doesn't matter. Blood doesn't matter. The thing that matters is being a good person, not being prejudiced against people for something they can't help."

"So none of the rest of his family are wizards? That must have been weird for him when he first started at Hogwarts." Sirius had accepted the idea quickly, but Andromeda wasn't that surprised, he was already fairly disenchanted when it came to what his parents told him.

"Yeah, but there are lots of Muggleborns at Hogwarts. Some of them are even Ravenclaws, so it doesn't mean you're less intelligent or anything. There aren't many in Slytherin though, I'm not sure if I can think of any..." she stopped, trying to think of a Slytherin who was openly a Muggleborn or Half-blood. She couldn't think of any, but in these times it was hardly something you'd flaunt in the Common Room. Even if you weren't ashamed, it was hardly something a self-preserving Slytherin would do.

"You mean he's not even a Slytherin?" Andromeda shook her head. "Bloody hell, Dromeda..."

"Sirius! Where did you even learn that language?"

"Bellatrix probably, I don't know."

"Bella really isn't someone you should have as a rolemodel when it comes to those type of things, Sirius. Anyway, he's a Hufflepuff. And I know you get taught that that's the worst House because they never win anything and they're not always the smartest. But I don't see what's wrong with being fair and loyal and kind, do you?"

Sirius could see what she meant. Maybe Hufflepuffs weren't so bad after all. He still didn't think he wanted to be one, but it would be better than Slytherin. "So his parents are really Muggles? What are Muggles like?"

"I don't know, I've never met any. But all the Muggleborns I know are lovely, I'm sure their families are the same."

"Ok. So what's his name?"

"If I still like him next year, then I'll introduce him to you, you'll find out then. You'd like him, you really would." Andromeda smiled, caught up in thoughts of the boy she hadn't seen in two months. They had only been going out for a few months, and no one knew, they couldn't risk it because of her family, but she really did like him a lot.

oooooooooooooo

Several years later, at the end of his fifth year at Hogwarts, Sirius Black sat in a similar position with his best friend, James Potter, on the grass by the lake.

"You look like the cat that got the cream. Out with it, Sirius. Which girl did you pull this time?" James asked, fed up with the smug smile Sirius had been wearing all day.

"Huh?" Sirius asked, jolting out of his day dream. "Oh, no one. It's nothing."

"Yeah, you're right. This isn't just any old girl. You look like you've just fallen in love."

Sirius laughed, "I'm not in love. I'm only sixteen."

James pondered this. _He_ was in love, and he was only sixteen. Sure, Lily didn't believe him, but he knew it was the truth. She was the one for him, and he was in love.

"Maybe," said Sirius. "Maybe one day it could be love. But not yet. There are too many issues, so I don't think it will work it out."

"Padfoot, if anyone makes you look that happy and oh my God, you're _glowing_," James said with a measure of disgust, "then I'm sure you can put up with enough to make it work. So what exactly are the issues?"

"Well..."

"She's not some Slytherin Pureblood princess who you can't have because you got disowned so now you're regretting the day you ever met me and decided you wanted to be a Gryffindor just like me, because right from day one you idolised me?"

"No, you complete and utter prat," Sirius said, shaking his head. "There are _so_ many things wrong with that sentence. No, the issue is that our friends might be a bit freaked out by the whole thing."

"Why? I promise I won't be, unless it's that awful Bulstrode girl."

"What do you take me for? As if I would waste my classic good looks and perfectly sculpted body on her," he said. Taking a deep breath, he decided that he just needed to do it. To admit this secret to someone. Anyone. But especially his best friend. It wasn't fair to keep James in the dark like this. "It's Moony. I like Moony. Moony likes me. I understand if you think it's disgusting, but I really like him, James. _Really._ I promise I won't let it ruin anything." The words came out all jumbled and mushed, but he knew James would get the idea.

James threw his head back, roaring with laughter. "That's it? I can't believe you thought that I'd be an issue. I mean Pete might be, but me? I believe I told you back in second year that you two would end up married, didn't I? Why did I ever drop Divination, clearly I have a gift!" With this, he flopped back on the grass holding his sides as he rolled around laughing.

_"Git."_

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed the parallels. Please review!**_  
><em>


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sirius is a first year, Andromeda in seventh Year.**

**Disclaimer: obviously I'm not JK Rowling.**

Sirius' first year at Hogwarts was filled with friends, pranks, fun and nagging Andromeda to let him meet her boyfriend. It took until April for her to agree. Sirius had worked out back at Christmas that the boy in question was Ted Tonks, but he couldn't just go up to a Seventh year Hufflepuff without people asking odd questions, so he had resisted the temptation.

Andromeda had been right though, he really did like Ted. He was funny and nice, and he let Sirius know how to get into the Hogwarts kitchens, which elevated him to demigod status in Sirus' eyes. Afterwards, Andromeda had walked Sirius back to Gryffindor.

"So, what did you think?" she asked, biting her lip.

"He's great, Dromeda. So much better than all the guys at the balls. They're all so boring."

"That's what I think to. It's a pity," she sighed.

"What's a pity? You can't dump Ted just cos he's not a Pureblood. I mean Lily sodding Evans is a Muggleborn, but she's still just as insane as my mother."

Andromeda laughed, "You're right, that girl is definitely something to behold. But if I stay with Ted I'll get kicked out."

"So? What's keeping you there?"

"Well, I guess... Cissy hardly talks to me, Bella's off in her own world doing God knows what. Maybe you're right. I'll still be able to see you, because there's absolutely no way that you'll get through Hogwarts without being disowned."

Sirius laughed. "Too true! Even if you don't want to stay with Ted, I still think you should leave."

"But they're still my family Sirius. I love them, I can't just leave."

"But you won't be happy!"

Andromeda smiled. "I don't know what I'll do yet. But if something does happen over the holidays and I get kicked out, then don't worry, I'll wait till you're back at Hogwarts to write, so you don't get in trouble, ok?"

"Ok." They had reached the Fat Lady, so Sirius bade his cousin goodbye and gave the password before stumbling through to find James and tell him about the kitchen. He thought it was for the good of them all if Peter didn't know yet, the boy didn't need any extra food.

oooooooooooooooooooooo

15th July 1972

Sirius woke up late to the sound of yelling downstairs. He was tired after the ball of the night before, where he had been bored out of his brains by several girls trying to charm the Black heir. He was only twelve, and the lengths that these girls were pushed to by their parents frustrated him.

The yelling was female, and one sided. It didn't sound like his mother, so he assumed that Druella was paying a visit. Thinking that perhaps that meant Dromeda would be there, Sirius got up. They had rolled their eyes at each other over the table so many times last night that Sirius had developed a headache.

After getting dressed he tiptoed downstairs so as not to interrupt his aunt's raving. The last thing he wanted was her scorn turned on him.

"–some filthy Mudblood! Disgusting! And a Hufflepuff too Narcissa told me! Both Avery and Rosier would have been splendid matches!"

A feeling of doom descended quickly on Sirius. _Dromeda_. He knew he would not be able to discover what had happened to his cousin from his aunt, she would ask enough questions to find out that Sirius had known, and he was too tired for that tongue lashing. Creeping back up the stairs he heard the door to the sitting room open behind him.

"Ah, Sirius. Wonderful. Come with us," his mother ordered. Sirius dutifully turned around and trailed after them along the corridor, now was not the time to antagonise his mother.

They entered the drawing room and Sirius' heart sank. The tapestry. This was serious. Andromeda was gone.

"_This_," said Druella, with an evil glint in her eye, "is what happens to members of our family who don't fit. They lose everything. And you wouldn't want that, now would you Sirius?"

He shook his head, gulping. If they burned her off the tapestry, then it was done for good. They couldn't take that back.

"Good. You are forbidden to ever write to, see or speak to Andromeda again. She's no longer your cousin."

_Yes, she is. She's family. She will always be your family._

He shivered as he saw the tapestry sizzle and Andromeda's beautiful face burn to black.

**Please leave a review, it won't take you long, and it would make me very happy :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**chapter 5:**  
><strong>AN: Andromeda's letter to Sirius.**  
><strong>Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling.<strong>

Sirius had been anxious about Andromeda all summer, trying to put it out of his mind. When he woke at Hogwarts on the 2nd of September he got out of bed and dressed quickly, rushing down to breakfast so he would be there as soon as the owls arrived. They still hadn't come by the time everyone else had joined them and Sirius was growing anxious. His friends tried to calm him but after two months with no news he couldn't stop fidgeting with worry.

Finally the owls swooped down and a barn owl he didn't recognise dropped something onto his toast. He ripped it open immediately and his friends knew better than to disturb him while he was reading it.

_Dearest Sirius,_

_I hope you're well._

_I'm fine, so is Ted. Actually, I'm better than fine. We're married! I wish you could have been there, but I didn't want to get you in trouble. It was wonderful and I feel like I'm a part of Ted's family already. They've all been so kind and welcoming. _

_So I guess you weren't told exactly what happened by my parents or Cissy. So here goes, the tale of my disowning._

_We got back from that awful ball and Father asked me to see him in his office before I went to bed. So I went in and he told me that I had to choose from either Rosier or Avery, yuck, and that I would be getting married before the end of summer. He said it was important for his political aspirations. So I asked if his political success was more important than my happiness, and he told me that wasn't going to be spoken to like that, because it was a ridiculous question and there was no reason to choose, because I would be happy with either of those men. I told him that if he really thought that then he didn't know me at all, and he said that of course he knew me, he knew that the most important thing to me would be to please my parents. Then Mother came in and asked which one I favoured, and when I answered neither, she just laughed and said well, dear, which is the lesser evil. When she put it like that, I realised that even if Father was deluded enough to think that I would be happy with one of them, Mother wasn't–she knew that I would hate being with them, but she was sacrificing me. She didn't care at all about her own daughter, as long as she was on the arm of a successful politician. So then I told them I would think about it and decide in the morning._

_I spent all night packing, and I went down to breakfast the next morning with an Undetectable extension charm on my purse, so everything was in there. I walked in and told them that I was in love with a boy named Ted Tonks, and I wasn't sure if I was going to marry him, but I certainly wasn't going to marry anyone else while I loved him. I told them that he was a Muggleborn, and that didn't matter to me, but if it really mattered to them then I was happy to leave and never come back. They were both shocked into silence, so I said that if they developed any thoughts on the matter and wanted to contact me, they were most welcome to owl. Then I left. Cissy didn't even flinch._

_I assume I've been blasted off the tapestry. I hope they didn't question you or punish you. If they did then I am truly, truly sorry Sirius. Ted and I will come to Hogsmeade on one of your weekends to see you. We'll be sneaky so Cissy doesn't see us, don't worry._

_Please write back so I know you're fine, I can't stop worrying. _

_All my love,_  
><em>Andromeda Tonks<em>

_PS. This news really deserves more than a Postscript, but it will be a while before I see you, and I'm bursting to tell a relation of my own, instead of just Ted's. I'm pregnant! I'm so excited. But also, petrified. Remember how I told you seventeen was too young to get married?_

**A/N: please review!**_  
><em>


	6. Chapter 6

**chapter 6:**  
><strong>AN: This is just after Sirius has left home.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling**

July 2nd 1975:

After telling the Potters that he was touched that they would consider adopting them, and letting them down as gently as he could, he decided that he needed to go see Andromeda. It was exciting to think that no one could stop them from seeing each other now, and he couldn't wait to see baby Nymphadora.

A ridiculous name, for a fairly ridiculous little girl, but that was Andromeda.

James had offered to come with him, but Sirius declined. This was something he needed to do alone and Andromeda was the only person who could _really_ understand what it felt like to get kicked out of their family.

It was two o'clock when he found himself outside the little cottage. He took a deep breath and knocked loudly.

"Coming!" he heard Andromeda call. "Dora! Stop!"

Suddenly the door flew open and there was Andromeda holding what appeared to be Dora over her shoulder, although really it could have been any two year old girl, all Sirius could see was her bottom.

"Oh!" she gasped. "Sirius! What are you doing – did something happen?"

Sirius laughed at her expression and she relaxed. "I made it fifteen whole years in that house, it wasn't too bad an effort!"

"Oh, Sirius!" she cried, setting Nymphadora down and embracing him. "Come in, come in! Tell me all about it, you poor boy!" She lead him into the house, before turning around sharply. "Have you got somewhere to stay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm staying with the Potters," he said. He laughed, still confused by their kindness this morning. "Yeah, they offered to adopt me."

"What?" she asked, ushering Nymphadora, who was yet to speak and clearly confused about who this stranger was, into the kitchen. "What did you say? Tea?"

Sirius was astounded by Andromeda's calm attitude when she didn't even know the whole story yet. Perhaps having to deal with her metamorphmagus daughter's antics on a day to day basis had mellowed her.

"I said no. Figure if I become a Potter then Mother will really be able to pretend I'm not related to her. Whereas, if I stay a Black everyone will always know what happened. I need to find someway to keep infuriating them if I'm not allowed into the house anymore. Not that I'll miss the house."

"What about Regulus?" she asked. She was sure Sirius would pass off his concern for his brother with bravado, but would really miss him.

"I can't care anymore. He doesn't. He made that clear last night. I mean, for God's sake, he's 13. He doesn't even understand what he's agreeing to. I blame this all on your sister."

"Mm, me too, to some extent. But in the end we make our own choices and we have to be able to live with them. But surely Regulus hasn't got the Mark or anything yet, has he? He's only a kid."

"No, he hasn't got the mark yet. But I believe he is a fully fledged member of the junior divisor," Sirius said bitterly. "And it's not like he'll have difficulty getting in once he finishes. Or even before that. I'm sure Bellatrix will give him a glowing recommendation. "

"Mmm," agreed Andromeda, sipping her tea. "So what happened last night? It was last night right?"

"Yeah. There was a dinner party, and afterwards dear Bella and Lucius came to have a little talk with me. We ended up arguing, and then Mother came in and joined in, telling me what a disgrace I was, with no proper pride, just like, well, you," he said, looking at his cousin, "and then Bellatrix went a little bit crazy at the mention of your name, and then Mother blamed it on me. So I chose some of my finest swear words to tell them all exactly what I thought of them and their organisation, Bella went even crazier, so I turned her robes red and gold. And then Mother blasted me off the tapestry right then and there. In front of me. Anyway so I hadn't actually unpacked my trunk yet, so I just grabbed it and left. Didn't have much money on me, so I had to walk part of the way, but eventually I got to the Potters."

"Oh Sirius," she said, getting out of her chair and walking around the table to hug him.

"It's ok. I'm ok. It's done now. We all knew it would happen sooner or later. And now I can come see you and Ted, and your lovely daughter whenever I want. I'm freeeeeeee!" he cried, throwing his head and arms back, relaxing into the feeling. "So anyway, how is my lovely second cousin?"

"Dora this is Sirius. He's my cousin. Guess what? He goes to Hogwarts!"

The girl laughed happily, her hair turning a magnificent yellow colour.

"She really is something, Dromeda," said Sirius, happy that he would get to see her a lot more often now. "How's Ted?"

"Pretty good. He should probably be stressed about everything that's going on, but it's Ted, so of course he's not," she laughed, her face full of joy as she talked about her husband. Sirius was glad that Andromeda had been brave enough to leave their family for something that made her happy and stand up for that, rather than just getting kicked out for petty misbehaviour like he had.

"Dromeda, there's something else I should tell you," he paused. "It's not important really, I just, it feels like I should tell you. You've always trusted me."

_Be brave, Sirius. She trusted you blindly when you were ten to tell you that she was seeing a Muggleborn. You can tell her anything._

"I'm, well, I'm gay."

"Oh," she said. "Well, that's ok, I don't mind. I don't think even your parents would have minded that part Sirius, except that they would have wanted lots of little Blacks to contaminate with their outdated views."

"I know, I just, I thought you should know."

"Have you got a boyfriend?"

Sirius blushed. "Well, yeah..."

"Is it James? Do his parents know? They really should if you're staying with them Sirius."

"God, no. James. Please, he's my brother. No it's Remus. Remus Lupin."

"Oh, right. Was he the blonde one or the brunette one?"

"The brunette. Do you think that I don't have taste?" Sirius said, with a trace of disgust on his face.

"I thought Peter was your friend," Andromeda said.

"He is, but I'd want to shag him even less than I'd want to shag James, and shagging James would feel incestuous."

Andromeda laughed. "Stop talking now, _please_. Anyway, I hope things work out for you and Remus. How long have you been together?"

"A couple of months. To quote someone very wise, 'maybe one day I could love him. But I don't love him yet. Sixteen is too young to be in love.' Or something like that."

"Well, I was right."

"Yeah, but you also said that seventeen was too young to get married, and that didn't work out so well for you did it?"

"Well, no, I guess not. I guess my ten year old cousin knew what he was talking about after all."

Sirius spent the afternoon playing with Nymphadora while Andromeda relaxed with a book. She looked tired, even though she was clearly happy, and Sirius was more than willing to look after the two year old for a few hours. Eventually he told her that he had to go so he could write to Remus and Peter.

"Thanks for coming to me first, Siri," she said, hugging him again. "If you ever need anything, Ted and I are always here, ok? And we'll invite you and the Potters over for dinner sometime soon."

"Thanks Dromeda." He bent down to flick Nymphadora softly on her nose, which she proceeded to turn into a pig's snout. He laughed. "Bye, Dora. I'll come back soon, promise."

"Bye, Siwius!" she said giving him a hug and her most pig-like snort.

**A/N: Please please pleeeaaase review and tell me what you think!**


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